The Federal Reserve will not publicly disclose communications between its chairman and President Donald Trump unless they are scheduled telephone calls or meetings.
asserted
they → disclose → chairman
The lack of transparency in communication between the two adds to the larger intrigue over the extent to which Trump exerts influence over Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh, whom he appointed to replace Jerome Powell in large part because Powell refused to do his bidding on interest rates.
asserted
Powell → add → rates
Trump’s name is notably absent from Warsh’s recently released public calendar for August, which includes dozens of calls and meetings with officials and CEOs, even though the president said in early August that he had recently spoken with Warsh.
asserted
he → release → Warsh
Instead, the calendar now includes a disclaimer that “Board member calendars reflect scheduled meetings and calls,” indicating that cold calls from Trump would not be listed if they occurred.
asserted
they → include → Trump
It is not clear when the disclaimer was added, or why.
asserted
disclaimer → add → ?
The lack of disclosure could aggravate the long-running complaint among members of Congress that the Fed, which is supposed to be an independent agency, is too much under the influence of the executive branch.
uncertain
which → aggravate → branch
The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump has called the chairman “repeatedly,” although Trump has pushed back on that characterization.
asserted
Trump → report → characterization
Still, Trump did acknowledge he spoke to Warsh “one time, briefly, a few days ago.”
asserted
he → acknowledge → Warsh
“But they made it sound like I live and breathe — you know, I speak to Kevin all the time, every time.
asserted
I → make → Kevin
I spoke to him one time,” Trump said.
asserted
Trump → speak → him
No calls with the president were logged in Trump’s calendar for either August or July.
asserted
calls → log → August
The Federal Reserve declined to comment to the Washington Examiner about this story.
asserted
Reserve → decline → story
The White House referred the Washington Examiner to Trump’s public comments.
asserted
House → refer → comments
Presidents and Fed chairs typically have little interaction, given a long-standing norm that the executive branch allows the central bank to conduct monetary policy independently.
asserted
bank → have → policy
But Trump repeatedly pressured Powell to cut interest rates, has attempted to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook, and recently said Powell should be “forced to resign” after the former Fed chairman and current governor was cleared of criminal wrongdoing related to cost overruns by the central bank inspector general.
asserted
chairman → pressure → general
Those actions led to complaints from Democrats that Trump was undermining the Fed’s independence.
asserted
Trump → lead → independence
Democrats have also said that Warsh is not sufficiently independent of Trump.
asserted
Warsh → say → Trump
Notably, Powell’s past public calendars do list calls with Trump.
asserted
calendars → list → Trump
For instance, the logs from April 2019 show a call between Trump and Powell at 9 p.m., when Powell was attending the House Democratic Caucus’s Issues Conference.
asserted
Powell → show → Conference
It lasted just 5 minutes.
asserted
It → last → ?
Powell’s public calendar shows another 5-minute call between him and Trump on March 8 of that same year.
asserted
calendar → show → year
In another example, Powell’s calendar for May 2019 lists a call with Trump from 4:42 p.m. to 4:47 p.m.
The Washington Examiner could not determine whether either of those calls between Powell and Trump was “scheduled” or if they were cold calls from the president, as listed in the logs at the time in the spirit of transparency.
The Fed webpage that lists all of Powell’s public calendars currently includes the same disclaimer as the webpage that lists all of Warsh’s public calendars, that they “reflect scheduled meetings and calls.”
uncertain
they → list → meetings
But archived versions of that same webpage from as recently as July do not include the same disclaimer at the bottom.
asserted
versions → archive → bottom
Some Fed watchers say it is in the public interest to disclose calls between Trump and Warsh on the calendar, even if they were cold calls and not scheduled.
asserted
they → say → calendar
“I think more transparency and disclosure about these issues would be a good thing,” Mark Hamrick, chief economic analyst for the Hamrick Brief, told the Washington Examiner.
asserted
Hamrick → think → Examiner
“At the same time, I can understand why the administration and maybe the Federal Reserve Board are looking to limit to some degree public disclosure of this,” he added.
asserted
he → understand → this
Disclosing unscheduled calls could damage the Fed’s mission if it led to the revelation of multiple calls without explaining their content.
uncertain
it → disclose → content
Markets might get spooked if they saw Trump and Warsh talking frequently.
uncertain
Trump → spook → ?
“If I’m the Federal Reserve, and I’m being a little hush-hush about that, what I’m probably trying to do is downplay any concerns that the president might be putting pressure on Warsh,” Ryan Young, a senior economist at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, told the Washington Examiner.
uncertain
Young → ’m → Examiner
“And if I’m the president, the one thing that seems to have spooked Trump so far is the bond markets,” Young said.
asserted
Young → ’m → Trump
“That’s what got him to walk back ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs.
asserted
him → ’ → tariffs
That’s what got him to walk back some of the more egregious pressures he put against Powell.
asserted
he → ’ → Powell
So I can see why they would want to keep it on the down low as well.”
asserted
they → see → low
Democrats have been very critical of Trump’s interference with the Fed, including in response to reports of communication between Trump and Warsh.
asserted
Democrats → include → Trump
For instance, U.S. Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) sent a letter to Warsh expressing concern that calls with the president were not included in the public record.
asserted
calls → send → record
They pushed for information about reports of the calls, and cited previous disclosures on the calendar from Powell.
asserted
They → push → Powell
“To clarify your interactions with President Trump, please either confirm to us in writing that you have had no contacts with the President since being sworn in, or amend your publicly released calendars to disclose any such contacts
asserted
you → clarify → contacts
,” they wrote.
asserted
they → write → ?
“We also request a public read-out of any conversations with the President.”
asserted
We → request → President
But Republicans have also complained that the Fed lacks independence from the executive branch under Democratic administrations.
asserted
Fed → complain → administrations
…and 17 more, not listed.
The Aporia
